July 10: Thursday Thirteen #4

It’s Thursday again and time to participate in Thursday Thirteen! Get the details here.

My name is Jennifer. I have a love-hate relationship with this name. I love that it’s familiar enough that I don’t usually have to spell it for people, it’s easy to find personalized items—though they’re often sold out—and there are a variety of nicknames that can be made from it. What I hate is that it’s so very, very common, it’s one of those names by which my age can be pretty easily guessed, and at eight letters, it’s a long one. Like most people, I’ve had lots of different nicknames over the years. Some are perfectly fine; others I’d just as soon forget.

13 Names I’ve Been Called

1. Jennifer. This is my first name. I was named Jennifer because my mom’s maiden name is Jenny, and I think my parents wanted to pass the name onto their favorite child (my sister might disagree).
   
2. Jen-Jen. Apparently this was my nickname as a baby/toddler, but it wore off around the time I started school.
   
3. Jenny. This nickname never really fit me. People that didn’t know me well sometimes assumed I went by Jenny, but they were wrong. It wasn’t until college that friends started calling me Jenny, but even then they did it only because they knew it bothered me. It stuck with some friends, and eventually Jenny actually became endearing. In fact, Vic frequently calls me Jenny (but he says it like Forrest Gump so it makes me laugh). I don’t mind being called Jenny anymore but my sister still gets all worked up when she hears it: “That is not your name!”
   
4. Toad and Bucket were Dad’s pet names for me and Kathy, as well as our friends whose actual names he never bothered trying to remember. I don’t know why Dad couldn’t use sweet nicknames like Princess or Baby like our friends’ dads did. It was always Toad or Bucket or, if he was feeling generous, Toad Bucket.
   
5. Fer. My friend Sherri’s dad thought this was cleverer than Jen. I always thought it was sorta weird.
   
6. Lynn. In fourth grade I wanted to start going by my middle name. This was short-lived.
   
7. Sally, as in Charlie Brown’s sister. In high school, my friend Janelle said my head was in her way and she called me Big-Headed Sally. I think it was actually my hair that was big, not so much my head (this was the mid-80’s, after all). A bunch of us took on Peanuts character names but mine was the one that hung on. Yay.
   
8. Teacher Jenny. When I taught preschool the administrator paid no attention when I introduced myself, and she referred to me as Teacher Jenny to the children. I corrected her many times but after a few weeks of Teacher Jenny-ing, I figured it was easier for the kids to pronounce, and I let it go.
   
9. Buttercup. I dated a guy that was a real jackass and whenever he pissed me off or hurt my feelings—frequently—he’d call me Buttercup while apologizing. I’m embarrassed to admit that I melted into a pool of forgiveness every time.
   
10. Ed. A guy I worked with insisted that I dressed like I walked right out of the Eddie Bauer catalog. He was right; I shopped there a lot back then. Every time he thought I was looking especially Eddie Bauer-ish, he’d call me Ed.
    
11. Katie’s mom/Jack’s mom/Victor’s wife. When I was younger I thought being called names like these would feel like a loss of my own identity. Turns out I really don’t mind them. I even kinda like them.
    
12. Mrs. Manullang. A lot of the kids’ classmates are instructed to call parents Mr./Mrs. It feels strange, but I understand the reasoning; it sounds respectful. When it’s followed by “why are you here again?” or “you look like Chewbacca,” though, I want to beat me up some little grade schoolers.
    
13. Jen. This is the one nickname that has stood the test of time. It is, evidently, “me.”